French Senate approves gay marriage bill's first articleApril 10, 2013 - 09:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The upper house of the French parliament, the Senate, has approved the first and most crucial article of a draft law on gay marriage which met with fierce opposition in the predominantly Catholic country, RIA Novosti reported citing Le Figaro. The Senate adopted Article 1, which allows same-sex couples to marry, by 179 votes against 157 after more than 10 hours of heated debates on Tuesday. The discussion of the entire bill may take some time as it also contains provisions for the right of homosexual couples to adopt children and some other relevant amendments to the legislation. Each provision in the bill has to be voted on separately, according to French laws. The lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, adopted the controversial bill last month. Both houses are dominated by President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies. Hollande made the possibility of same-sex marriage and adoption a key issue during his election campaign last year. He could sign the bill into law as early as in summer this year, unless the conservative opposition finds a way to kill the bill or sent it for public referendum. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Director General of Ucom takes part in recruiting conference Ralph Yirikian participated in the Recruit Days business and networking conference organized by Move2Career. Ameriabank named Best Bank in Armenia for 2024 by Global Finance Ameriabank has been named the Best Bank in Armenia by Global Finance magazine in its 31st annual awards. Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Lavrov rejects Armenia’s “defamation” of Russia, CSTO Lavrov decried the Armenian leaders’ “defamation” of Russian soldiers and border guards deployed in Armenia. |